Saxon Interests Inc. Acquires 416 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.0% in the first quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 3,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2,250.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Air Products and Chemicals stock traded up $3.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $250.92. 2,832,479 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,785,854. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50-day moving average is $259.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.49. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 63.90%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.